Marvin forced himself into the dark room filled with rows of broken tables and spilled, rotting food. And blood. A lot of it. No bodies yet, though. He lowered his rifle and pulled a pistol, raising his now free hand to breathe into a sleeve. He followed the dark, dried streaks to the door leading into the kitchen and gave the door a gentle push.
It was too much to take in. Too much to process. He was reasonably sure all the researchers must be dead. That crazed scientist had been thorough. Too bad Marvin hadn’t stopped the man before he’d shot and killed Brice. Bile sat in his throat, daring him to breathe in too deeply. He backed out of the kitchen. Marvin shut his eyes and pulled in slow breaths, concentrating on how it felt walking barefoot on the cold earth back home on his parent’s farm. It always calmed his body to remember when he was just a boy, working in his family’s fields. His thoughts brought back to him the soft, sulfuric smell of nearby corn plantations, washing over him with a breeze under the hot sun that baked and bronzed his skin. Fortified, Marvin escaped death’s stench into the salty, wet air of steel walkways, suspended over the depths of the mountain’s bowels. He let an unspoken prayer escape his thoughts into the cold, stale air. He smiled, spotting Seren leaning on a railing near the elevators leading to the hot labs deep below the facility. He was proud of the young doctor. She was holding up well, considering. He strode across the catwalk. She looked up, eyes red and puffy. Her mouth was twisted, and her eyes narrowed. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen such a mixture of consternation and fear. Marvin said, “What’d you find?” Her frown deepened with the dark look in her eye. “You’re not going to like it.” His face contorted. “We’re infected, aren’t we?” She nodded. It wasn’t so much a matter of if they would change. More a question of when. He snorted, grinning. “So, what’s the bad news?” A concrete-muffled gunshot emanated from the infirmary compartment, where Hakim and Emmerich had been. Marvin set his jaw, lifting his rifle to aim across the expanse. “Set the timer and run. We were sent to keep you alive, anyway.” Hakim burst through the infirmary door and attempted to duck left as a bullet struck his leg, dropping him to the floor. Another shot missed him, the bullet whipping past Marvin’s head and embedding in the central compartment’s wall. Marvin shoved Seren toward the doorway and started running the other way. Kyle emerged from the infirmary door a moment later, predatory, with his gun in hand. “Do it and run!” he shouted. Marvin hated the icy feeling that crept into his mind as Hakim attempted to retreat. Kyle was already on him, however, and lifted him with mechanical ease. A shot echoed through the cavernous darkness and Hakim fell still. Kyle gave a small push, letting Hakim’s lifeless body fall into the deep black below. He swung his gun around to aim at Marvin, who stopped cold, just a few feet away. “Don’t you hear her voice?” Kyle said with a grin. “Not like this.” Heat behind his eyes, Marvin trained his sights on his best friend’s head. “When she died, the commander left us. She’ll break the world, give him a new purpose. She requires our deaths.” Marvin screamed. “I can’t lose you like this, dammit!” Kyle took a shot; the bullet punched into Marvin’s chest. Marvin caught his footing, feeling his chest tighten. There wasn’t a choice, but at least his friend wouldn’t die alone. The self-destruct alarm sounded. Marvin rushed in, slamming into Kyle. They hit the iron railing and slipped over the cold metal. The abyss accepted them. As they plummeted, Marvin spotted Seren running toward the front doors. He knew he’d made the right decision. He felt a peculiar bloodlust and knew the virus was taking hold of him. He thought one last time of home as the darkness rushed by him, and the world fell silent.
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AuthorLawrence Henry is an aspiring author with more caffeine than time. BTW, here's some of my thoughts on a few varied subjects. Archives
July 2023
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